Milledgeville student researching rural health challenges at Yale

Jayson Wright, a Yale senior and first-year master’s in public health student, said his research focuses on hospital-acquired infections in newborns and the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Milledgeville student at Yale University is researching ways to protect newborns from antibiotic-resistant infections while preparing to return to rural Georgia to work in public health.

Jayson Wright, a Yale senior and first-year master’s in public health student, said his research focuses on hospital-acquired infections in newborns and the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

Wright conducts his research in the lab of Dr. Thomas Murray at the Yale University School of Medicine.

The work comes as Wright says Georgia continues to face challenges in rural health care. Wright adds that state leaders recently submitted a $1.4 billion proposal under the federal Rural Health Transformation Program aimed at addressing the rural health care crisis after multiple rural hospitals across the state have closed since 2010.

Wright said his interest in health care began close to home. His grandmother worked as a trauma nurse for 40 years at a rural hospital near Milledgeville.

He said growing up in rural Georgia shaped both his career goals and his desire to return to the state after completing his education.

Wright is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology and a master’s in public health focused on the epidemiology of microbial diseases.

He said he hopes to eventually work in public health at the state level, focusing on improving health outcomes in underserved communities.

Wright said he believes innovation in public health should begin in the communities that need it most.